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Although Paul was writing from a Roman prison, joy is a dominant theme in the letter of Philippians. The secret of his joy is grounded in his relationship with Christ. It seems strange that a man in prison would be telling a church to rejoice. But Paul’s attitude teaches us an important lesson: Our inner attitudes do not have to reflect our outward circumstances. Paul was full of joy because he knew that no matter what happened to him, Jesus Christ was with him. Several times in this letter Paul urged the Philippians to be joyful, probably because they needed to hear this. It’s easy to get discouraged about unpleasant circumstances or to take unimportant events too seriously. If you haven’t been joyful lately, you may not be looking at life from the right perspective. --- Life Application Study Bible notes